RAPTORES I STRIGIDJE. 



139 



The Great Horned 

 Owl, B. virginiamiSy 

 Bonap., of all North 

 America, is twenty- 

 one to twenty -five 

 inches long, the wing 

 fourteen and a half 

 to sixteen ; the male 

 eighteen to twenty- 

 one inches, the wing 

 fourteen to fifteen 

 inches. Its large size 

 and conspicuous ear- 

 tufts are sufficient to 

 distinguish it from all 

 our other owls. Its 

 plumage is exceed- 

 ingly various. This 

 owl makes great hav- 

 oc among poultry, 

 wild turkeys, and grouse. The nest is usually on a large 

 branch, and not far from the trunk of the tree ; the eggs 

 three to six, almost globular, and white. There are sev- 

 eral varieties of this species. 



The Genus Scops Mottled or Screech Owls is char- 

 acterized by small size, conspicuous ear-tufts, imperfect 

 facial disk, short bill nearly covered, toes long and gen- 

 erally partly covered with hair-like feathers. 



The Mottled Owl or Screech Owl, S. asio, Bonap., of all 

 temperate North America, is nine and a half to ten inches 

 long, the wing seven inches, and the male nearly of the 

 same size. The upper parts are pale ashy-brown with 

 longitudinal lines of brownish black, and irregularly mot- 

 tled with the same and with cinereous ; the under parts 

 ashy white, with longitudinal stripes of brownish black, 



Great Horned Owl, B. virginianus, Bonap. 



